Am I the only one who felt this was just good... and not as great as everyone says it is?
There was literally nothing happening in the middle of the movie when Caesar gets captured...it moved at a snail's pace..
First one is still my favorite..

I saw through all three for the first time this week and I have to say the first one felt like an OK start to the series. Matt Reeves literally took it through a whole new direction from Dawn until War. War was fantastic, incredibly directed, beautifully shot with nicely balance between emotion, drama and action. I never found a dull moment in both Dawn and War! Easily the best trilogy since the Dark Knight!

Am I the only one who felt this was just good... and not as great as everyone says it is?
There was literally nothing happening in the middle of the movie when Caesar gets captured...it moved at a snail's pace..
First one is still my favorite..

I agree with this - there were too many holes, from the Colonel not killing Caesar at the first opportunity, to the guards on patrol not noticing Nova wandering around (or indeed the apes escaping). Plus from a personal perspective there were so many trailers that spoiled the key moments, but I don't think there were as many key moments as in Dawn.

In fact, the most interesting moments in War are because of the direct link from Dawn (Ape Not Kill Ape being the best).

I agree with this - there were too many holes, from the Colonel not killing Caesar at the first opportunity, to the guards on patrol not noticing Nova wandering around (or indeed the apes escaping). Plus there were so many trailers that spoiled the key moments, but I don't think there were as many as in Dawn.

In fact, the most interesting moments in War are because of the direct link from Dawn (Ape Not Kill Ape being the best).

Still a good movie though.

They established that the Colonel simultaneously respected and underestimated Caeser. I thought it was well handled.

They established that the Colonel simultaneously respected and underestimated Caeser. I thought it was well handled.

Not when they started going into his son's backstory with the infection spreading. Would someone willing to kill their own son to stop the 'plague' be anywhere near apes, never mind use them as slave labour?

Not when they started going into his son's backstory with the infection spreading. Would someone willing to kill their own son to stop the 'plague' be anywhere near apes, never mind use them as slave labour?

Nothing in the film gave me the suggestion that the apes were carriers of the plague, or that the Colonel believed them to be so.

And it was clearly suggested that it was Nova's doll that infected him, not his exposure to apes.

Nothing in the film gave me the suggestion that the apes were carriers of the plague, or that the Colonel believed them to be so.

And it was clearly suggested that it was Nova's doll that infected him, not his exposure to apes.

True, but he's willing to kill his own men who are soldiers who are infected, kills his son, but Caesar's left alive? At multiple opportunities, even after showing defiance?

At least when Koba shoots Caesar and he falls from the trees in Dawn, there's a believable expectation that Caesar's dead, which explains Koba and the human's actions from that point on, but here it felt like Caesar was being kept alive because the plot relied on it.

Like I said though, it's still a good movie (if a slow burner), just doesn't hit the same heights as Dawn which had a more interesting premise and War felt a little played out to me.

True, but he's willing to kill his own men who are soldiers who are infected, kills his son, but Caesar's left alive? At multiple opportunities, even after showing defiance?

At least when Koba shoots Caesar and he falls from the trees in Dawn, there's a believable expectation that Caesar's dead, which explains Koba and the human's actions from that point on, but here it felt like Caesar was being kept alive because the plot relied on it.

Like I said though, it's still a good movie (if a slow burner), just doesn't hit the same heights as Dawn which had a more interesting premise and War felt a little played out to me.

Is it normal for a general to immediately kill another general when he captures him?

Yup, but I'd been expecting that to happen ever since we first saw the clip of Caesar seeing the Colonel for the first time and chasing after him into the waterfall in the teaser trailer last year. That and that fact that Blue Eyes was literally never mentioned or seen anywhere in the other trailers afterward.

Not when they started going into his son's backstory with the infection spreading. Would someone willing to kill their own son to stop the 'plague' be anywhere near apes, never mind use them as slave labour?

Because he needed them to build the wall so he could protect himself from the other humans. It was either hope that your slave labor built wall is enough to hold back the army or not build the wall at all and either get killed or be on the run for the rest of your life.

Really interesting and unique score for War. A lot of scenes had music playing that at first felt kinda out of place or mismatched but at the same time...felt right? Not sure how much sense that makes.

True, but he's willing to kill his own men who are soldiers who are infected, kills his son, but Caesar's left alive? At multiple opportunities, even after showing defiance?

At least when Koba shoots Caesar and he falls from the trees in Dawn, there's a believable expectation that Caesar's dead, which explains Koba and the human's actions from that point on, but here it felt like Caesar was being kept alive because the plot relied on it.

Like I said though, it's still a good movie (if a slow burner), just doesn't hit the same heights as Dawn which had a more interesting premise and War felt a little played out to me.

The Colonel recognized the extreme loyalty Caesar commands among his people. His main goal in keeping the apes alive was to build the wall, and he saw Caesar as a useful tool to keep them working. You kill Caesar and make him a martyr, you've got a lot of royally pissed off apes that aren't going to do anything you tell them to do.

Pretty good. The opening battle scene was shot so damn well, I loved the aerial shot panning from the human's side to the ape's side.

War really wasn't a great name for the movie but that's a small issue. I did find it kind of a cop out that an avalanche happened to wipe out the second force of humans before we could get any kind of reaction from them seeing Caeser, I was sort of expecting Jason Clark's character to return and be leading them or something.

Really good movie, maybe not as good as Dawn but I think it was better than Rise.

But lemme tell you something Gaf.

I consider myself a patient man, but oh my fucking god. There were like 3 little kids, probably like aged 6-8 sitting right behind me, and they would not fucking shut up the entire fucking movie. I tried shushing them to no avail. Their parents were sitting right next to them and did nothing the entire movie.

If you bring your fucking toddlers to a fucking movie you better tell them to shut the fuck up as a common fucking courtesy to the others that paid 12 fucking dollars to watch the movie too.

Side note, but did anyone else see that new guillermo del toro movie trailer before this? I think it was called The Shape of Water. Its apparently not online, really wanted to watch it again. Looked incredible. Its a shame the theater audience I was with was miserable, people laughing and making fun of the trailer.

Side note, but did anyone else see that new guillermo del toro movie trailer before this? I think it was called The Shape of Water. Its apparently not online, really wanted to watch it again. Looked incredible. Its a shame the theater audience I was with was miserable, people laughing and making fun of the trailer.

I saw it too. I'm excited, Pan's Labyrinth is one of my favorite movies.

Side note, but did anyone else see that new guillermo del toro movie trailer before this? I think it was called The Shape of Water. Its apparently not online, really wanted to watch it again. Looked incredible. Its a shame the theater audience I was with was miserable, people laughing and making fun of the trailer.

Side note, but did anyone else see that new guillermo del toro movie trailer before this? I think it was called The Shape of Water. Its apparently not online, really wanted to watch it again. Looked incredible. Its a shame the theater audience I was with was miserable, people laughing and making fun of the trailer.

Ya, it looked interesting, but was a little too similar to Bioshock in style, elements, and era. And I also did not enjoy Pan's Labyrinth, so I won't be seeing this in the theater.

As for War, I saw it yesterday and enjoyed it greatly. I think I like Dawn a little more because it had more subplots and themes going on at the same time than War did. But the arc for Ceasar is great. Bad Ape was great too, and was probably the best 'comic relief'-type character I have seen in a long time that was not groan inducing.
There were a few things which annoyed me, like:
1. I wish they showed or said something or ANYTHING, of what was happening anywhere else in the world, much less anything that is not southwest America. The microcosm and storytelling is too small for such epic, historic, and powerful changes to species. This is more a complaint to both Dawn and War in general, but not as much so to Rise, since it had that great ending sequence and news snippets that I loved, which showed the world in chaos from the virus. Even one or two lines on the situation in War outside their little bubble would have made me happy.
2. That of all the human soldiers in the camp, it only had 2 characters- the 1-dimensional soldier that Ceasar lets go in the beginning and gets blown up at end; and the leader Woody, whose acting was just okay, as always. Everyone else was one brainwashed hivemind, no character at all. Weak storytelling.
3. Dumb things in the story during the prison section, like:
-how useless the whole water pouring into the tunnel part was,
-how fake and contrived that the girl was able to just waltz in and out of the camp without any soldiers seeing. Why would the apes build such high walls if the front door is wide open and the soldiers so stupid? lol
I know there are more things, but I can't remember now.

All in all, this trilogy is great. When I was a kid, i was not a fan of the old movie or TV series, because the masks looked ugly and it looked depressing to me. But after seeing Rise and enjoying it, I bought the original 5 on the Bluray set, and actually really liked all of them. Then I saw the Burton remake, and of course that was hot shitpile. That was my leadup to watching and loving Dawn in the theater, and now War.

Really good movie, maybe not as good as Dawn but I think it was better than Rise.

But lemme tell you something Gaf.

I consider myself a patient man, but oh my fucking god. There were like 3 little kids, probably like aged 6-8 sitting right behind me, and they would not fucking shut up the entire fucking movie. I tried shushing them to no avail. Their parents were sitting right next to them and did nothing the entire movie.

If you bring your fucking toddlers to a fucking movie you better tell them to shut the fuck up as a common fucking courtesy to the others that paid 12 fucking dollars to watch the movie too.

Fuck.

Anyway, good movie :)

I'm as pateint as they come but anything but silence and laughs during a movie and I lose my shit.

The themes were there, and Caesar/the core group of apes are interesting, but the movie's story has a number of points that stretch belief.

The military strategy at the start was to attack the apes head on, uphill, and without knowing much about how many apes there were or their defenses. Attacking animals that could rip your arms off and beat you with them even without weapons, while outnumbered, in a setting that would easily lead to close combat.

I don't know how these decent populations of people and apes are surviving either with seemingly no noticeable food sources other than post-apocalypse scraps (and that bunch of...rice? Grain? that they got from somewhere and gave to the apes). That's a more minor quibble. I first thought of how there are seemingly so many apes to begin with. I wonder how many apes there are in all of the U.S. as is.

The terrible military planning continued with the crappy wall they were cobbling together, which wouldn't have held against the missles or rockets/artillery that were being fired, and should have crumbled instantly since it was just...piled up rubble/rocks?

The strategy of throwing your valuable and irreplaceable air support at the wall first when it's dotted with anti-air missles, and without seemingly even attempting to make the anti-air priority targets.

The Northern commanders that apparently decided to send ALL of their troops, at the same time, in a daylight head on charge in one big mass, which then doubly conveniently is wiped out by an avalanche that ensures the destruction of both sides.

Attacking an avalanche-vulnerable area.

The base apparently rigged to blow with one or two well-placed grenades.

The not killing Caesar, or cutting the apes down to a small group that would be unable to pose a threat any longer.

The guard stupid enough to come down from his watch point and go into close range by entering the cage (with the key), alone and with nobody else watching, to be surrounded by animals that could easily beat him to death.

The apparent imperative need for the human forces to bother wasting limited men and material by attacking the wintry base of a crazed commander for differing on how to deal with a new disease threat.

Some bits are more believable than others, but overall gave the movie a feeling that things were happening that way because the movie wanted them to happen that way.

Though the idea of apes taking over basically by just staying out of the way while the remnants of humanity blasts itself to bits doesn't seem so far-fetched.

On the topic of noisy viewers - some guy fell asleep in our theatre room during the movie and was snoring quite loudly. It was mostly a bit amusing though. I think eventually his friends woke him up.

So many things happen just for convience's sake that it got kinda ridiculous

(Virus turning humans into 'apes', no one noticing Nova wandering around, the Colonel not killing Caesar, the large ass gas tanks next to their wooden wall, Caesar not dying until they reach the new home; etc)

It's just boring. Everything happens for convenience of the movie. There are just so many plotholes in this movie its beyond ridiculous. I loved the first movie and enjoyed the 2nd one, but this one is terrible. It's like Xmen Last stand or Matrix Revolution of the trilogy.